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BillionGraves Reviews Summary
BillionGraves has 61 customer reviews and ranks 53rd in the Genealogy & Family History category.
First they hit me for $27.99 for a crippled site that is near worthless. Then they tell me that I will automatically be renewed every year AND I cannot stop that by mail. It has to be done through a link they provided that does not work. Calling their support *******659 I got, and you will get "We re busy and cannot take your call right now" and direct you to the site that is not reachable. They don't even suggest you can call back later, but they just wish you a great day and hang up.
Just got PayPal response and they agreed with my complaint and are refunding the money from BG's account. I believe that contesting this on a CC account would also work.
Dear Bob,
We have concluded our investigation into your case and have decided in your
Favor.
We were able to recover $44.99 USD and this amount has been credited to
You. Please allow five business days for this adjustment to be posted.
If you are due any additional funds, we will make our best effort to
Recover the balance from the seller.
If the seller's account has insufficient funds to complete the refund owed
To you, please be assured that we will take appropriate action against the
Seller's account, which may include limitation of the seller's account
Privileges.
-----------------------------------
Transaction Details
-----------------------------------
Seller's Name: BillionGraves Holdings Inc.
Seller's Email: *******@billiongraves.com
Transaction Amount: -$44.99 USD
We're sorry that you felt deceived. There is a "Terms of Purchase" link right next to the check out button (similar to many websites) that displays and explains the No Refund policy very clearly without ever having to leave the purchase page.
I use this site regularly when researching various family members. There are a number of ways that BillionGraves can point out other research opportunities - my favorites are:
--Names of people burried near by.
--Names of people with similar names (surnames both maiden and married) burried in the same cemetary.
--Known family members (this can be updated by users to help those researching in the future)
In addition - it is easy to help others by transcribing pictures taken by others. The tools make this easy - so you can do a few, or a few hundred depending on your time and desire.
I have used Billion Graves in both the US and Australia. I've been able to submit over 10,000 gravestone pictures and transcribed several thousands more. I've used the app and the online version. I've had a seamless experience and have loved helping others connect with their ancestors. Thank you Billion Graves for providing this venue!
Thank you for your hard work! It will be enjoyed by many for years to come!
Billion Graves is an amazing database of user-input grave information. Sometimes, grave information is not available but it is because no user has photographed that grave. Since images record GPS locations, it is easy to see surrounding Graves, which is helpful. Also, with the app, contributing images is super easy! Good job, Billion Graves!
My family and I have had such wonderful experiences in using the BillionGraves app to photograph headstones. In a recent trip to Massachusetts I ran into a couple wandering around the cemetery I was continuing to photograph. They appeared lost. After a brief conversation explaining what I was doing, I was able to show the couple where the grave they were looking for was located just by using the app. The app lead us to the exact location. The couple were so happy as they had been searching for quite awhile.
Yes! This is what makes us unique compared to other sites out there. When a cemetery is completely photographed using the GPS technology, it blesses everyone. I was in California looking for my great-grandmother’s grave and found it in a cemetery with thousands of headstones in a matter of minutes. Why? Because a wonderful volunteer, such as yourself, took photos and transcribed the entire cemetery. It made finding the headstone a seamless process!
I was surprised to see so many negative comments. My experience was phenomenal. I needed a photo of my Dad's headstone who is buried almost 1,500 miles from my home. I put in a request, and within two days a volunteer had taken the picture. Wow! I don't know if that's normal or not. I found an uncle in Oregon who had a son I did not even know about. Knowing that most people are buried in family plots, I have found the GPS that identifies where the family plots are exceptionally helpful. Their data base continues to grow by thousands of records each day. I love it. With the monthly cost being less than an average cup of coffee makes it sure seem like a great value to me.
It wasn't until I was checking my bank statement that I discovered I even had a subscription at Billion Graves. My card had been charged with my knowledge with no warning, no reminder, no email, nothing. My email to their "Priority" support only got me a copy-and-paste reply that had absolutely nothing to do with my questions. My second email didn't get a response at all.
Do NOT sign up here folks! You'll get no support and no refund when you're charged without your knowledge.
We are sorry your experience wasn’t stellar! Before signing up for an account our users agree to the terms of purchase. Our no refund policy is clearly written in that agreement. There are no surprises, as we believe in being above board and honest with our customers. Also, To show our customers good faith, we provide our users with a reminder email before their subscription is about to renew. This places our users in the drivers seat to decide whether or not they would like to continue their subscription for another year. As far as customer service is concerned, we provide our BG+ users with first class service. We have experienced genealogists and site users who provide help every step of the way in order to get our clients the most out of their subscriptions.
I typed in William Campbell USA Missouri and got 1 marker! Where as find a grave had 100, s. They suck so bad. I feel sick I logged in on facebook but at least I didn't send them credit card info. STAY AWAY! 1st ar is way too much it is a solid -5.
Not finding results simply means that these cemeteries haven’t had photographs taken yet. We are a very different company from Find A Grave. As a genealogist, I have used both sites. Comparing the two is like comparing your grandmothers nice reliable old Buick to a Tesla. Your grandmothers car will get you from point A to point B, but can it find an address and location using GPS technology? BillionGraves offers first class tools for BG+ subscribers including seeing who is buried next to your family member in a cemetery, ( in genealogy this is golden), family finder emails, and top notch customer service. Plus with BillionGraves we trust our clientele to transcribe and add to records. Unlike Find A Grave, you NEVER have to go through a third party and wonder when and if a mistake will be edited. This job we entrust to our wonderful users! However, just like Find A Grave, we also offer a free membership to our website; in fact we love clients who work with our tools for a few months before deciding to go with BG+, as it helps them understand more fully the technology that drives our site.
Do not like it, when an historical record comes up for Billion Graves.com, and I again see that the wrong address is attached to a particular cemetery. Please look at the address on Assumption Cemetery in O'Fallon, Missouri. The cemetery has always been in O'Fallon, but you have the address as Wentzville, Mo. No-No-No!
That's an easy fix! The gps location was correct, just the address label was wrong. https://billiongraves.com/cemetery/Assumption-Cemetery/65717
Really don't need to say much more than these folks. Couldn't even find my parents or grandparents who are buried in a cemetery that has probably a thousand or more stones. Billion had 5 stones in this cemetery and this was only cemetery even listed out of 10 or more in that county.
Literally thousands of new images are added every day! Keep checking back or better yet, go out and take some pictures. :) If you don't live close by you can always make a request for one of our other volunteers to take some pictures for you.
The business practices of BillionGraves are really bad. I tried to sign up for BG+ several times but it wouldn't work. By the time they finally got it to work, I was turned off and immediately asked for a refund. I received a generic email stating there are NO REFUNDS, NO EXCEPTIONS! They tell you it's possible to cancel your subscription but you don't get a refund. Huh? Why would anyone do that?
I'm really kicking myself for subscribing. I thought there might be more information available than FindAGrave.com (which is free!) but when I did a family name search, it didn't even find one. Your ability to earn "credits" is a joke considering how much you would have to do for them to earn a month's worth of subscription.
I already see that it will be important to CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION before this one runs out or they will automatically resubscribe me. As far as I can tell, there isn't an option not to renew your next year's subscription without simply canceling your current subscription. This is the worst business practice I've seen.
Stick with FindAGrave and save your money.
We are very different from Find A Grave. However, we also offer our customers free access to our records just like they do. Before signing up with BG Plus, the terms clearly state rather boldly that there are no refunds, as we believe in being transparent with our customers. Do you want to see how we are really different from Find A Grave? GPS is the key:
https://support.billiongraves.com/a/solutions/articles/35000067276-difference-between-find-a-grave-and-billiongraves-
DO NOT give them your credit card, it is impossible to cancel. As close as anything to a scam with useless information that is provided by other members and completely unreliable.
Cancelling your subscription is seamless and very easy! There is a rather large button on the research page that says “manage subscription” you click on that button and then a box opens up on the screen and you click “cancel subscription”. We believe in being transparent with our customers!
I signed up for BG+ and I find next to nothing on my family. After one week if struggling to use the site and finding almost nothing I asked about a refund. I was told too bad so sad, no refunds. I think this is horrible policy, every genealogy site I have sign-up for and have been unhappy gave me a refund without question. Just goes to show a legit site from non. Don't waste your time and money.
Our no refund policy is clearly displayed when you subscribe to BG+. We are no different than a lot of other web based subscriptions in this respect. We always encourage our users to try it for free, use the technology to get familiar with it and then pay for BG+ when you are ready for the use of better tools. I used the free side of BillionGraves for almost 6 years before deciding to make a commitment. However, after using the amazing tools I would never go back, and wonder why I waited so long!
I bought Billion Graves Plus Feb 2016 to document the Cemetary where my deceased grandson is buried. To my surprise it renewed, without my consent Feb 2017. I found out when the $59.99 charge appeared on my bank statement. I immediately sent an email requesting cancellation and refund. The email response I received was generic automated response that indicated no refunds. I emailed again and no response. The phone # is not working! I feel like they stole my money!
We don’t believe in surprises as a company! All of our policies are clearly spelled out before a customer agrees to the purchase of a BG+ account. Also, we always send out a reminder before a subscription renews to put the user firmly “ in the drivers seat”. This allows our customers the opportunity to either continue with the account or cancel it. At BillionGraves, we believe the choice is always with the customer!
I was trying to use the site, but spending a lot of time on support pages, reading materials, I gave up.
Confusion on how to upload photos (they advertise the app on Applestore, but figured out that app in PlayStore is also available.
Tried to upload several - already taken - pictures which then showed as "You uploaded 0 photos" - though I can see the pictures under My Ppictures.
No way to correct name of a cemetery - resulting lots of overlap as small and capital letters are differ in indexing.
No support for local language characters (in many cases? Appears)
And they do ask money even from volunteers who are willing to transcribe and upload photos which they can sell...
So I decided to request to revoke my account - but guess, there is no such topic in the support options like account maintenance...
Even one star is too much for this site. I signed up for a 30 day free trial, and soon after that I gave notice of canceling. There is no refund folks. Once they got your card number, they keep it. I still get the site for one year, but won't use it, but if they go ahead and re-apply my card at that time, I will be calling my attorney general.
I joined BillionGraves early on 6/17/16 and gave my credit card #, after checking what was available, it was not what I was looking for, so early afternoon on 6/17/16, I went to my account, per instructions and cancelled my subscription. It was and still is noted on my account that it was cancelled, but my card was charged and I have not yet received a refund. When should I expect that refund, it has been 14 days? Certainly did not expect this.
Not user friendly! Can't even look at anything you have looked up. You get a pop up wanting your email address and when you give it, no email arrives to proceed further. No way to contact someone about the issue. Frustrating, not user friendly at all.
Really enjoy volunteering for billiongraves. It is so easy to contribute to their site with their app. You really have two ways to contribute. You can upload photos using their app or you can transcribe memorials by logging on to their website. No drama, no fighting over who owns the headstone photos. You are really made to feel like you are part of their team. In just 2 years they have over 7 million memorials. They are growing rapidly. They have joined with familysearch and myheritage.
We let our customers be the ones to decide if they would like a subscription or if they would like to use the site for free. It is their choice. I often tell our customers to use the site for free first. Getting used to the technology and the tools is the key to success! Also, when signing up for the account, it is very clear what their terms and policies regarding the subscription are. There are no refunds for a subscription. However, a subscription can always be cancelled and the customer will still enjoy the benefits of the account until the renewal date. This is just like many other online subscriptions out there.
As a genealogist, I used the site for many years for free. I decided later on to get a subscription, and I would never go back. Why? Because there are many tools such as nearby graves, family plots, and global family that are invaluable tools for the novice or experienced genealogist. Like many other sites out there, we provide online customer support that is also top of the line. At https://support.billiongraves.com/
Phone lines and snail mail are communication tools from the past. As a very modern, forward thinking company, our customer support staff is willing and able to answer customer questions and problems quickly and efficiently by email. Those who have subscriptions are given priority status on our website and are the first in line always. In fact, our support staff are usually live M-F 8-12 MST for our subscribers. When questions are asked outside of that time frame, our staff will usually answer within a 24 hour window.